Switching from LED to T5 HO Questions?

[gb530]

Originally Posted by Orion120

Your first pick will look good. Remember sockets 2 & 5 will be controlled on one outlet, and Sockets 1, 3 and 4 will be controlled on another.

That I did not know. I just assumed it was 3 on one plug and the other 3 on the other. Thanks!

[gb530]

Originally Posted by Orion120

The blue plus bulbs are going to give you the most PAR and growth for your coral so I would start off with as many blue plus bulbs as your eyes can stand, and fill in the rest of the sockets with a full spectrum(coral plus) and purple plus bulbs.


My tank has the following -

Front to back for 6 bulbs:
Blue+
Blue+
Purple+
Coral+
Blue+
Blue+

Also remember to give your eyes some time to adjust to the look once you pick a layout, at least a week, before changing the layout again. When I first lit my tank up I thought it was way too blue for my liking, but after a week it looked perfect to me. Your eyes will have a big adjustment period after looking at your tank under the Kessil.

Cool. Do you think the blue plus bulbs will give more than the Coral plus? Cause I was thinking the Coral Plus was more for growth.

Would love to see a pic of your tank with the T5s!

[Orion120]

Originally Posted by gb530

Cool. Do you think the blue plus bulbs will give more than the Coral plus? Cause I was thinking the Coral Plus was more for growth.

Would love to see a pic of your tank with the T5s!

Yes, from what I understand the corals are getting their growth mainly from the blue plus bulbs due to the spectrum that they produce.

Unfortunately cameras tend to really intensify the blues when all of the lights are on so a picture wouldn't do it justice. In order to take a better picture I usually put only a aquablue special and a blue plus bulb on so that it doesn't look like a washed out blue picture.

[gb530]

Originally Posted by Orion120

Yes, from what I understand the corals are getting their growth mainly from the blue plus bulbs due to the spectrum that they produce.

Unfortunately cameras tend to really intensify the blues when all of the lights are on so a picture wouldn't do it justice. In order to take a better picture I usually put only a aquablue special and a blue plus bulb on so that it doesn't look like a washed out blue picture.

For sure. No worries on the pic, was just curious if maybe you had one laying around. I know how it is, as the Kessils do the same, I just turn down the blue half way with the control knob. A little easier than replacing 4 foot bulbs!

btw, I just pulled the trigger and purchased a used ATI 48" 6x54w fixture. Guy ran it for only 3 months so its basically new. Plus, getting it used gives me the ability to try it out and if it doesn't work for me, I can sell it for the same price I bought it for. Will update once I have it up and running. I plan on taking a lot of before/after coral shots too

[gb530]

Just put the ATI 6x54w fixture on my tank.

I placed the new fixture 7" away from the waters surface. Too close? Where does everyone else keep their T5 lights at? I don't want the new light to burn any corals but the Kessils are know to burn as well so i was thinking the corals would be fine. I had my Kessils about 5" away from the surface

Also, I went with this bulb layout for now

Coral + (front)
Blue +
Purple+
Coral +
Blue+
Blue+

[millionmanus]

Mine are 7" off the to of the water add well.

[tkeracer619]

How does it look?

[foreveralone]

I recently made the switch from kessils to a 6 bulb ati sunpower. I really did love the shimmer and controllability I got from the kessils combined with my profilux controller but it was time to try something different. Very happy with the sunpower and I have mine about 4 inches off the water (about the same as my kessils were) but it is dimmable. I have ramped it up to 67% and I can't see a need to go much higher. These things are bright!

[gb530]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

How does it look?

It looks great! It is much better than I was expecting. After mounting the new light and turing it on, I plugged in the Kessil and and held it above the tank along wiht it. There was a slight pop to the corals and some shimmer, really not a big difference though. I am very happy for now, the colors are great and the reds looks better. I am excited and hoping the corals throughout the whole tank will do better now instead of just the ones right under the light, especially in regards to SPS.

[gb530]

Originally Posted by foreveralone

I recently made the switch from kessils to a 6 bulb ati sunpower. I really did love the shimmer and controllability I got from the kessils combined with my profilux controller but it was time to try something different. Very happy with the sunpower and I have mine about 4 inches off the water (about the same as my kessils were) but it is dimmable. I have ramped it up to 67% and I can't see a need to go much higher. These things are bright!

They are much brighter! I took a picture with the ATI on one side of the tank with a kessil still plugged in on the other. Check it out....



The picture above had the original bulbs (that came with it) in the lamp, so it's more of a white color. The new combo that I put in, listed above, are more blue and looks better.

[canyousee]

Really like your tank,good collection of animals. The right side looks so dull compared to the left,thanks for sharing,some good information.

[gb530]

Originally Posted by canyousee

Really like your tank,good collection of animals. The right side looks so dull compared to the left,thanks for sharing,some good information.

Thank you!

[gb530]

Update:

So far I am super happy with the new light. The spread is much better and once dark areas of the tank are now bright and shining! This makes it much easier for coral placement throughout the whole tank.

It's still a little too early to tell overall but I have noticed a HUGE difference with my RBTA. I picked up my RBTA at month 3 of setting up my tank, so I have had it for over a year. When I first put it in my tank, it went from bubbly, to long tentacles within a week or two (it hardly looked like a RBTA) and I could never figure out why. Well, IT WAS THE LIGHTING! I have not changed anything but the lighting. Within 2 days of the new lights, I noticed one of its tentacles bubbled up and now, 2 weeks later, it looks like a RBTA again! (Pics below)

I also purchased the all blue 48" ReefBrite LED strip to add the color pop I was missing.

This picture was taken about three weeks before setting up the ATI unit. Its not the best quality as I had to crop from a larger pic but you get the point.


Took these pics today (every day it has been getting more bubbly)




New light with ReefBrites

[zoomonster]

Just a note about the RBTA... I had one I kept before I stepped away from the hobby a while. Funny thing is mine was under 10k MH and VHO actinic and seldom if ever bubbled, looked elongated like yours except it was always a brilliant rich rose color. The thing split almost immediately and between it and its offspring produced probably 25+ anemones over a ~3 year period before I shut down. Maybe a slightly different variety but they all appreciate more light.

[dgelz]

I'm in the same boat as you. I've run nothing but LEDs since I've been into reefing, and at the moment I'm thinking about replacing my sol blues with 48" ati power module. Seems extremely expensive compared to other options.

[homegrowncichli]

After following the thread, I see people decide (and other tanks I have seen) to go with 6 x T5s and an 460 LED strip.
I personally use a 5 x T5 aquactinics (makes use of wider reflectors then the ATI 6 bulb fixture) and find that 5 is not enough, not because it doesn't get enough PAR, (I could use 5 x 10K if I really want to), but with only 5 (or 6 bulbs with the ATI fixture) it has less combo possibilities than an 8 bulb fixture.

Sometimes don't you wish you could use those 2 x 420s or the wavepoint red wave bulb which has the red peak in it? just for color pop, even though it doesn't add any PAR? And along those lines, since it is just a cosmetic light, I wouldn't replace it every 6 months like my other bulbs, but wait until it burns out which could be 2 or 3 years later, so the annual bulb replacement cost would be about the same.

[gb530]

Originally Posted by dgelz

I'm in the same boat as you. I've run nothing but LEDs since I've been into reefing, and at the moment I'm thinking about replacing my sol blues with 48" ati power module. Seems extremely expensive compared to other options.

I've had a green slimer in my tank for about six months now. The thing did not grow an inch the whole time under the Kessils, almost five months. Since adding the new light, the slimer has seven new growth tips coming out from all over the place.

However, this is what I am experiencing. I have seen the same green slimer mother colony explode with new growth under LEDs (EcoTech Radion). To each his own... I am extremely happy with the switch so far!

[gb530]

Originally Posted by homegrowncichli

After following the thread, I see people decide (and other tanks I have seen) to go with 6 x T5s and an 460 LED strip.
I personally use a 5 x T5 aquactinics (makes use of wider reflectors then the ATI 6 bulb fixture) and find that 5 is not enough, not because it doesn't get enough PAR, (I could use 5 x 10K if I really want to), but with only 5 (or 6 bulbs with the ATI fixture) it has less combo possibilities than an 8 bulb fixture.

Sometimes don't you wish you could use those 2 x 420s or the wavepoint red wave bulb which has the red peak in it? just for color pop, even though it doesn't add any PAR? And along those lines, since it is just a cosmetic light, I wouldn't replace it every 6 months like my other bulbs, but wait until it burns out which could be 2 or 3 years later, so the annual bulb replacement cost would be about the same.

Six bulbs is perfect for me! If I were to have eight, I would honestly just throw in more Blue+ bulbs.

[gb530]

Checked the PAR a few days ago and found that 10" from the water surface is looking like the best so far. Mapped it out with Photoshop and wanted to share it with all of you. Any thoughts?

[Tron_954]

Looks good, what happens with the light down to around 8"?

[gb530]

Originally Posted by Tron_954

Looks good, what happens with the light down to around 8"?

At 8", PAR was higher from 10-20%.

[Orion120]

Great PAR readings, and the tank looks great. Can't wait to see how it all fills in. What is your light schedule like including the Reefbrites?

What are your tank dimensions again?

[gb530]

Originally Posted by Orion120

Great PAR readings, and the tank looks great. Can't wait to see how it all fills in. What is your light schedule like including the Reefbrites?

What are your tank dimensions again?

Thanks. The ReefBrite + two T5 bulbs run for a total 12 hours (10am-10pm). ReefBrite + All bulbs run for 7 hours (12:30pm-7:30pm).

Standard 90, 48"x18"x24"

---

My Dark Purple Millepora is loveing the new light too, tons of new growth.

[Orion120]

My tank height is 3" shorter than yours, and Sunpower is hung at 9" above the surface minus the Reefbrite. So I am probably getting similar numbers, and my lights are on for about the same photoperiod too.

[Orion120]

If you haven't read up on fan power supply voltage, 9V seems to be the recommendation. Also, make sure the label ends of the bulbs are all on the side where the air blows in from the fans.